BusTalk

frankie

I came across this photo of a well wrecked NYCTA RTS. The year and bus model is not important in this case, just the electronic destination sign that seems pretty odd to still be illuminated. Can anyone educate me on why this is so? I'm surprise that the damage from the impact did not disable the circuits that operate them.

Frankie

Photo courtesy of nhrrlives (currently up for bid on eBay) for educational purpose

ripta42 · Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:41 am Post subject:

It's not illuminated; it's a flipdot sign. When power is disconnected, the dots stay where they are. The only illumination is a fluorescent tube which was surely broken in the wreck.

frankie · Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:55 am Post subject:

Thank you ripta42! Now that I know the actual name of it, I did a Wikipedia research and the following is an excerpt from it:

The flip-disc display consists of a grid of small metal discs that are black on one side and a bright color on the other (typically white or day-glo yellow), set into a black background. With power applied, the disc flips to show the other side. Once flipped, the discs will remain in position without power.

I learned something new today!

Frankie